Apple, Samsung, Google joining forces to buy Kodak patents

Apple, Google, HTC, LG and Samsung are reportedly teaming up in a bid to prevent ‘patent troll’ Intellectual Ventures from buying Kodak patents.

The Wall Street Journalreports that the consortium, which includes Apple and its rivals Google and Samsung, are going up against Nathan Myhrvold’s Intellectual Ventures in the fight to buy Kodak’s imaging rights, which are being auctioned as part of a bankruptcy filing.

Intellectual Ventures is the fifth largest patent holder in the US, and is known for using acquired patents file infringement lawsuits against other companies, which is why Apple and the rest of the reported consortium want to keep Kodak’s patents out of Intellectual Ventures’ hands.

Also named as a bidder in the Journal’s report is RPX Corp, a group of companies that also wants to buy the patents in order to prevent being sued by a patent troll.

Kodak has said that it has not yet decided who to sell its 1100 digital photography patents to, and that discussions with buyers are still ongoing. The company could decide not to sell its patents at all if it feels that the bids are not high enough.

Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January, and received approval from bankruptcy courts to go ahead with the auction of its digital imaging patent portfolios in July, despite claim to some of those patents by Apple.